Developing Video Training Modules for Teachers

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by xitaqua

technology alone is not enough

A well-designed and edited video clip shot on a $150 camera can have far more impact than one shot on the finest equipment available, if poorly designed or edited.

Of course, the opposite is also true: Good equipment in good hands can produce spectacular work.

Remember the audience: If it's YouTube, then NTSC resolution is usually fine.

Finding someone to mentor you through the video process would be excellent. Remember that most people are proud of their skills and are happy to share. Even a still photographer can add a lot of value - do you have a local newspaper who might send a photog over to talk about it?

Alivia: Yes, of course one can hand-hold; pros do it all the time. Amateurs are best advised to try to avoid it whenever possible. Shaking cameras just get people sick. Great advice though!

[xitaqua]

"Remember the audience: If it's YouTube, then NTSC resolution is usually fine."


Good point !. The audience is teachers in Missouri who are interested in coaching robotics teams, specially targeted toward new teachers. The hope is to have a 30 minute powerpoint presentation in which also shows 3 videos of folks talking about why robotics competition is a beneficial activity to students and 3 videos of folks talking about what makes a good mentor. Total presentation to be 30 minutes.

I think if teams do not own a camera already, might as well spring for another $50 and get an HD Camera such as the flip-video, you might never know when you might the extra capability.......

[DonRotolo]

Indeed, shoot in the highest resolution you can afford.

====
Diverging slightly: About 5 years ago, I was in the audience at work, where our FIRST regional director was giving a presentation looking for help with a local team, and he had a video maybe 10 minutes long that was quite good, IIRC a professional piece from FIRST. Ask your FIRST management, maybe they have something that can be leveraged.

[xitaqua]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

Diverging slightly: About 5 years ago, I was in the audience at work, where our FIRST regional director was giving a presentation looking for help with a local team, and he had a video maybe 10 minutes long that was quite good, IIRC a professional piece from FIRST. Ask your FIRST management, maybe they have something that can be leveraged.

Yeah I am awaiting for the PBS Documentary to see if we can leverage anything.... I mentored one of the teams in Wentzville, MO which was filmed.

In the meantime I would like to get the perspective of other adults that have not been filmed yet. I think your idea of asking "FIRST Management" is a good one, it is neat to hear all different perspectives, here is what we are looking at right now :

Why robotics competition ?
1) School Principal
2) Company Senior Executive
3) FIRST Management

What makes a good mentor ?
1) College Students that is a mentor.
2) Professional Enginner Mentor for a Rookie Team.
3) Seasoned Mentor - Mentored more than 2 different teams.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. Numero Uno...You can't operate a palm recorder handheld. Please use a tripod. I am surprised no one talked about lighting. Don't place your subjects with their back to a lighted panel or window. Don't have them wear bright clothes like a white shirt and don't let them wear geometric patterned clothing. It will play havoc with the pickup devices. If you can, two lights work well. A flooded light off to the right or left of the subject and a spot from behind but not pointing at the camera. The front light adds definition to the face by adding some shadow and the spot from behind adds definition and sets the subject away from background objects by highlighting the head and shoulders. Interviews are normally head and shoulder shots. Anything further away gives the eye more to look at and be distracted and closer (head only) prevents the viewer from concentrating on the spoken part of the interview. Only zoom out to show a demonstration or to incorporate other objects or people in the shot.
As far as panoramic pans goes, I always caution people not to make it less than tens seconds. That is easy to count off in your head while you pan a room or a vista outdoors. Don't be afraid to reshoot a scene a couple of times while changing the camera angle, lighting or background. Tape is cheap compared to having nothing usable when you get back to editing.
Zoom to give a perspective, show relationship or to move in on the announcer.

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by xitaqua

Why robotics competition ?
1) School Principal
2) Company Senior Executive
3) FIRST Management

I don't know if you ever saw the 25 minute video here

It has some pretty good interviews from FIRST folks and company management.

[xitaqua]

Al,

Thanks for the tips.

In regards to lighting, what are your suggestions for putting something together, that a high school team could do on a budget ?

Cheers,
Marcos.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Marcos,
Check with B&H Video. They have lot's of stuff and some may fit your budget. Many high schools have video/TV clubs that would allow you to borrow their stuff from time to time.

[xitaqua]

Thanks Al,

I was thinking thinking more in the lines of something you could buy at a hardware store. Something you can maufacture for $50 or less.......

Cheers,
Marcos.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Marcos,
You could try a couple of work light fixtures, one with a flood light and one with a spot light. It would be better than no light. You will have to try and experiment and see what works best as far as placement and position. You can use cardboard or metal foil to block (barn door) the light so it doesn't fall on things you don't want lit. Remember the effect is to give the subject some definition not melt them with mini sun type light.

[xitaqua]

Hello Al,

It has been 2 years but I still haven't tried the light idea.....but hopefully this season. I plan to mentor a rookie team, and hopefully I can make a 3 to 5 minute clip on the team telling a good story.....more to come

I did take a class with nineNetwork, learned how to do some editing with FinalCut Express, also learned about vimeo, they have pretty cool instructional videos. Here is my latest attempt in producing video clips :
http://www.vimeo.com/26215914/

Besides lighting, I hope to fix the issue on sound.....next week hopefully I will be test driving the new Kodak Camera that is like the now defunct Flip cameras. The neat thing is that it has a jack for mic, have anyone tried it out ?

Cheers,
Marcos.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Marcos,
The video actually looks pretty good. I am not sure what sound issue you are concerned about. All I heard was wind noise during the interview outside. The only way to fix that is at the time of recording and it takes a rather expensive wind filter for the mic. We use something like this...
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/361060.html

[docdavies]

How do people deal with the huge size of video files. We're trying to upload files to our website and most are too big.

What is the best format or compression algorithms to use?

Doc